page_title: Speedbird
section_title: BOAC
hierarchical_section_title: Speedbird / History / BOAC
caption_attribution_description: English: British Overseas Airways Corporation and Qantas, 1940-1945. Armstrong Whitworth Explorer Mark II, G-ADSV "Explorer", of BOAC is refuelled at Accra, Gold Coast.
context_page_description: The Speedbird is the stylised emblem of a bird in flight designed in 1932 by Theyre Lee-Elliott as the corporate logo for Imperial Airways. It became a design classic and was used by the airline and its successors – British Overseas Airways Corporation and British Airways – for 52 years. The term "Speedbird" is still the call sign for British Airways.
context_section_description: With the creation of BOAC in 1939 the logo was retained, continuing to appear on the noses of aircraft throughout World War II despite the military-style camouflage that had replaced the airline livery.
  From 1950 BOAC gave the Speedbird greater prominence on the aircraft using it on the tail fin, either in navy blue on a white background or vice versa, and also using it widely elsewhere, such as on airport buses.
  With the advent of air traffic control and the adoption of call signs to identify aircraft and their operators, BOAC chose the name of their now well-known logo, "Speedbird", as their call sign when in flight.
  In the mid-1960s the design of the Speedbird was slightly altered, with a slimmer "body" and larger "wing", and on the tailfin coloured gold on a navy blue background. Elsewhere the colours used for it were mostly a combination of cyan and white.
caption: On the nose of a BOAC Ensign refuelling in Accra during WW2.
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